Robot treads

[int12h]

Anyone have experience with making treads (tracks) for a bot? Could you share your experience, i am looking for ideas.

thanks

 

[int12h]

hmmm...this might be useless to ask since noone responded to my original question, but...

I have treads on my robot, but they are slipping off the wheel hubs. Does anyone know of some sort of correction device that can keep the treads on the wheels?

thanks,
bd

 

[ampedtech]

tracks?

It's all physics. Question is, and always is, how big.

I will guess that you have a small bot that weighs in at less than 20lbs.

Use the thread from a mountian bike tire. Use a SHARP utility knife to seperate the side wall.
Try to use the whole tire thread so you don't have to splice. maybe you could use an idler pully to take the slack.
To keep the track on, your wheels might resemble spools.


Email pictures / specs of your bot to me. I can help you. And I full of it.

 

[Jay]

I have the same problem, that is, on a robot which doesn't yet exist.

I've had several suggestions from the guys at uni, the best of which seems to be to make your own with liquid rubber. molding a lip onto the edge.

Keep in mind I haven't done it yet....

 

[has_abiad]

hi i am hassan from the uob , i wany to ask u how i can make my flame sensor more sensitive

 

[Scubasteve]

Soft rubber treads are hard to come by, therefore a lot of people resort to the ones used in toys that were obsoleted. www.sozbots.com has some kits available. I have heard of people using double sided timing belts for cars, but I think these are expensive.

For the connection, this can vary. Many rely on simple friction with grooves to keep it aligned. There are other systems which look like a chain and sprocket..

Steve

 

[abe_xabre]

Try o-rings

For non-traction (pulley to other wheels) use o-rings which are easily available. For traction (tank-style) timing belts would be your best bet. 2 normal problems: belts or any other arrangement slipping off the wheels
and the wheels not being properly aligned in the same plane. Avoid these problems

 

[Echelon 01]

www.smallparts.com has belts and treads which I would consider ideal for small robots. it also has the wheel hubs and gears ect.

 

[dknguyen]

Nelwick has a full setof unusually large (though not very large) treads and sprockets.

**broken link removed**

There are also the tiny-sized plastic treads and sprockets that acroname and solarbotics carry. Pricey though. There is a set where the drive sprocket is made to go on servo motors, and another kind where the drive sprocket (has a different hole) to go on a specific kind of geared motor.

 

[Papabravo]

How about the drive belt from a chopper?

 

[ryanerb]

**broken link removed**

 

[bryan1]

When I saw this thread I thought it was worth looking at but after a quick scan This is another case of bringing out posts from from years ago. Well just look at some of the titles on some of the O.P's I've never seen so many Site Admin's in one post Well I don't know when this forum was made but this post started in 2002 and 4 years later the post is taken up as it was yesterday.

 

[dknguyen]

In 4 years, absolutely no progress has been made on the availbility of tank treads for medium sized robots...how sad.

such is the timeless task of searching for miniature robot tank tracks...

 

[Tracy Walker]

I haven't gotten around to doing this yet, but I'd guess it wouldn't be too tough to use roller chain and sprockets for treads, and cast rubber traction pads to attach to the chain. Roller chain is available in many sizes and styles and casting rubber is easy to find on the web.

 

[William At MyBlueRoom]

hi i am hassan from the uob , i wany to ask u how i can make my flame sensor more sensitive

Stop touching it.

 

[theinfamousbob]

Try contacting your local snow blower/ snow clearing machine thing dealership. The heavier duty models come with nice treads and sprockets/wheels. They may even be able to get you repair parts for cheaper than...a full machine.

We use them on our sumo robots without a hitch...they'll hold on our 75lb bot as well as our 150lb bot...

Try around for similar stuff, a timing belt just seems a bit extravagant.

 

[Tracy Walker]

hmmm...this might be useless to ask since noone responded to my original question, but...

I have treads on my robot, but they are slipping off the wheel hubs. Does anyone know of some sort of correction device that can keep the treads on the wheels?

thanks,
bd

What sort of wheel hubs are you using? Are the tracks like a flat belt inside? If so, the hubs need to be higher in the center than they are on each side, thus: <> . That way, the belt tends to ride up to the center and stay there.

 

[bones]

Hi,
Everybody has probably seen this link before, but for those who haven't.
http://www.rctankcombat.com/articles/track-systems/
I have some of the plastic conveyor material but haven't tested it yet.
Otherwise I was thinking of laser cutting 8mm alloy and bolting the drive horn in the centre.
Something like this design, the T34 tank.
Cast version. http://www.geocities.com/eastpac01/tracks.html

Worth a look.

Cheers
Rod

 

[JeffDM]

How about the drive belt from a chopper?

If this is considered a dead-horse topic, I apologize.

I too am having a pretty tough time finding treads and such. New drive belts for choppers doesn't seem to be a cost-effective way to get rubber treads. 1.5" wide belts appear to be fetching $160 each. I have considered going to a local motorcycle shop to ask if I can get any used ones, I'd think the motorcycle owners try to get them routinely replaced before the break, and what I have in mind probably won't be nearly as demanding as a motorcycle.

 

[Roboticinfo]

This website has a couple of treads
**broken link removed**

Also this website has some soft rubber treads
www.robotmarketplace.com

This website has cheap small treads for extremely small robots
www.kelvin.com